【Day3】Leading Children to Know God’s Ways
Parents must lead their children to know the ways of God. God has righteous ways for He is our righteous God. Righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne. We need to teach children to treat others the way they want others to treat them. Since it is the “golden rule” of conduct, we also need to teach children that they cannot take advantage of others as well as get something for nothing.
God is a God of judgment. According to Ecclesiastes 12:13 and 14 we should fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man. God will bring every deed to judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil that was done by us. Parents need to tell their children that God is a judge and that everyone will face His judgment. Everything we have done behind the scenes, God will judge. God will punish the guilty. We need to help our children to know God’s righteousness and God’s holiness, which helps them develop a healthy fear toward God, and will also increase the appreciation of God’s love.
God is regulated. God is executing His rule over all creation according to the law of His creation. According to the law, whatever a man sows, he will also reap. “For he who sows unto his own flesh will reap corruption of the flesh, but he who sows unto the Spirit will of the Spirit reap eternal life.”(Gal.6:8) Therefore, we need to learn the law.
Learning to respectfully fear God’s ways. God is omniscient, and is not to be mocked. God said to Samuel, “For it is not how a man looks that matters; a man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” So we need to teach our children that God looks at our hearts more than our outward appearance. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, O Jehovah, my rock and my Redeemer.” –Psalms 19:14. God examines the heart and the mind of man; all the thoughts of his heart are naked and open before Him. Therefore, if we think things we should not think, we should immediately stop and turn to the Lord, asking Him to forgive us, so that we can stop having bad thoughts or ideas. These are the laws of God. Therefore, teach the children to fear God and to honor God’s ways.
Abraham interceded for Lot according to the righteousness of God. When Israel murmured, Moses made expiation for them, and the plague was stopped; Samuel said to Saul, ” To obey is better than sacrifice, / And to heed, than the fat of rams “; David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver to sacrifice in the harvest field of Araunah. David knew the law of God’s righteousness.
We have to teach our children from an early age to learn, to listen and to obey. A major problem in the entire universe is rebellion. Today’s society is full of rebellions. Pray that the Lord will have mercy on us and that we will be a group of obedient and submissive sons and daughters. We also need to help our children know God’s law: God is the righteous God who judges people, He has laws, and examines hearts. Therefore, each one of us should have a healthy fear of God, even the fear of God’s law. These are the laws that we should teach our children to know and obey from childhood.
Parents need to teach their children to know the law of God. The whole Bible is composed of two major parts, first the Old Testament and then the New Testament. The Old Testament is a covenant of law and the New Testament is a covenant of grace. The law of the Old Testament is set before man to expose his sin and the need for salvation, while the grace of the New Testament is given through the Lord Jesus, and is a free gift of salvation. The children must first know the law of God given in the Old Testament and their need for salvation before they can appreciate the value of the grace of God given in the New Testament. Christian parents who discipline their children should impart the law to them; we should not first impart grace to the children, but rather first impart the law to them. The purpose is to help them recognize that they are sinners through and through, so they need God’s salvation and the Lord’s forgiveness and grace. The law helps the child to build up a proper humanity, preparing them to become the best material to receive God’s grace and participate in God’s building. The law is like a mirror, showing us our true condition and exposing our sin so that we can realize the need for grace. The law is like the sheepfold, protecting them, “being shut up unto the faith which was to be revealed”.
The law is our children’s teacher, bringing us to Christ. We need to teach and impart the law to our children. People who know the law can then treasure God’s grace and God’s salvation. Parents need to have a proper understanding of the law in order to teach their children about the law.
